The Sinister Side of the Internet: A Look into the Dark Future of A.I.

In October, the Louisiana parole board discussed the potential release of a convicted murderer and brought in a doctor with mental health experience to talk about the inmate. However, online trolls on 4chan took screenshots of the doctor from an online feed of her testimony, edited the images with A.I. tools to make her appear naked, and shared the manipulated files. Those tactics exemplified how users on 4chan use A.I. technology to promote racist and offensive content about people who have appeared before the parole board. Similarly, the article also highlights some problems resulting from the misuse of A.I. tools on 4chan and what regulators and technology companies are doing about them.

The article noted concerns about A.I. tools like Dall-E and Midjourney that generate fake pornography by removing clothes from existing images. Such manipulative images and audio, while not spreading far beyond 4chan, can be a cause of concern for efforts to supercharge online harassment and hate campaigns. The article also discussed the consequences of A.I.-generated pornography and the lack of federal law against its creation. Additionally, the potential for A.I. tools to be exploited for harmful purposes was exemplified by a tool that can create realistic digitally replicated voices and was used by users to circulate fake clips of celebrities expressing offensive content.

The article also mentioned how major social media companies and the government are taking steps to address the issue of A.I.-generated content. It was mentioned that some companies have begun labeling A.I. content, and President Biden issued an executive order for content labeling and development of standards for watermarking and authenticating A.I. content. The misuse of open-source A.I. tools was also highlighted, as Meta released its large language model, Llama, to select researchers, and the code quickly leaked onto 4chan. Users then used the code for various purposes, including producing antisemitic ideas. Moreover, language models have been developed to echo far-right talking points and create sexually explicit content.

Overall, the article exemplifies how fringe platforms like 4chan provide early indications of how new technology may be utilized for promoting extreme and harmful ideas and the steps being taken to address this misuse.

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